The art of travelling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi

This is a discussion on The art of travelling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi within Route / Travel Queries, part of the Travelogues category; Hot News : Charmadi ghat is being widened at places for 2 vehicles to pass easily and overcome the traffic ...

Do they allow vehicles to enter the KNP (Kuduremukh National Park) post 6:00PM???

I have even entered after 11PM. But... don't try it unless you are really equipped for fog driving. This route has intense fog at night.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Around 11PM we started back, this time through Kudremukh ghat. Here we faced the thickest fog I have ever come across till date, and I have seen lot of fog before. But we knew the drill. I switched off the highlights to reduce the diffusion, turned on all 4 fogs, and keeping only edges of the roads in sight, I kept on driving at 30-40kmph. The Gypsy merely followed my tail lights. Some places I was forced down to 20kmph as visible dropped even further. But at no time we stopped due to fog, as my Neolite 714 army could always illuminate the 10 meters ahead of us.

Hot News: Charmadi ghat is being widened at places for 2 vehicles to pass easily and overcome the traffic chaos. They have started the work and planning to complete it ASAP

One of my friend traveled via Charmadi yesterday and he made it at ease. He mentioned that traffic was relatively smooth throughout ghat section. If things remains the same then I will think of taking this route for my weekend trip down to Puttur or else it is going to be Mysore/Arakalgudu route.

If they can also teach how to "Give way" and etiquettes of Ghat Driving, it can resolve half of the "issues" reported due to supposedly narrow stretches.

Agree with you completely, there is not even a small glimpse of driving etiquettes with many of the so called educated drivers. And more than that I think the patience is out of place for many of them and always in a hurry to reach there destination.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

One of my friend traveled via Charmadi yesterday and he made it at ease. He mentioned that traffic was relatively smooth throughout ghat section. If things remains the same then I will think of taking this route for my weekend trip down to Puttur or else it is going to be Mysore/Arakalgudu route.

Probably due to a weekday he was able to go through with ease, but weekends would be really crowded and becomes difficult to drive IMO. I would suggest you to play safe because we are not sure what would be the situation during weekends.

Agree with you completely, there is not even a small glimpse of driving etiquette with many of the so called educated drivers. And more than that I think the patience is out of place for many of them and always in a hurry to reach there destination.

Agreed.

But there is a flip side to it as well: idiots who go slow and will NOT let you pass them even at safe places; they feel insulted if overtaken. So they become dogs-in-the-manger, neither driving at a decent speed nor allowing others to. This kind of behavior is as bad as the one you describe.

KannadaPrabha news paper has carried a front page article on the Shiradi ghat works and it has a few disturbing things:

1. The current tender is approved only for the first 13kms. They have just floated the tender for the 2nd half (closing date is 25-Jan).
2. The closure might therefore be extended by 6 more months (or they might open it up after 6 months, and close it again next year for 6 more months).
3. Current work that is going on is only related to making the drainage and they'd be touching the actual road 6weeks from now or so. When asked why the contractors got the road closed so early, the reply was to ensure the safety of the workers due to the traffic.
4. They have dug up the road to physically block any oncoming traffic from Sakaleshapura, with just 6ft of space to have locals with passes to travel.
5. Apparently Shiradi ghats will not be 4-laned. They hope to solve the bottleneck with the exisiting road and some tunnel that'd come up with Japanese help.
6. Contrary to expectations of the reporter who was expecting works in full swing, the work was going on only in a few places.

For those using Bisle ghat road to reach Kukke or the other way, please check status on everyday basis. Yesterday, Bisle was closed due to construction of a bridge. Don't know if it is open yet. Good news is that Bisle to Kudraste widening work is in full pace. It may be a viable alternative to Shiradi in the coming months.

For those using Bisle ghat road to reach Kukke or the other way, please check status on everyday basis. Yesterday, Bisle was closed due to construction of a bridge. Don't know if it is open yet. Good news is that Bisle to Kudraste widening work is in full pace. It may be a viable alternative to Shiradi in the coming months.

Have they patched up this road by any chance? I'm talking about the Hethur-Koodu raste-Bisle stretch? Last I drove there, it was still very bad.

Have they patched up this road by any chance? I'm talking about the Hethur-Koodu raste-Bisle stretch? Last I drove there, it was still very bad.

Hettur-Koodraste road is in terrible shape. Koodraste-Bisle road widening work is going on at a fast pace. If the entire stretch between Kukke-Koodraste is done then people driving to/from Mangalore/Bangalore can use this via Shanivarasanthe & Arkalgudu. Also, the Donigal- Kodlipete road is being widened. So, if all these road works are finished in the next few months, we will have many alternatives to Shiradi Ghat

Koodraste-Bisle road widening work is going on at a fast pace. If the entire stretch between Kukke-Koodraste is done then people driving to/from Mangalore/Bangalore can use this via Shanivarasanthe & Arkalgudu. Also, the Donigal- Kodlipete road is being widened. So, if all these road works are finished in the next few months, we will have many alternatives to Shiradi Ghat

That is good news. I think it is too much to expect the Koodu Raste-Kukke to be widened/repaired. I am definitely sure that they will not touch Bisle. The lower part of Bisle (from Kukke to the Dakshina Kannada border) was relaid some time back, I wonder how that is holding up.

That is good news. I think it is too much to expect the Koodu Raste-Kukke to be widened/repaired. I am definitely sure that they will not touch Bisle. The lower part of Bisle (from Kukke to the Dakshina Kannada border) was relaid some time back, I wonder how that is holding up.

How is the road condition between Koodu Raste and Shanivarasanthe?

Not too sure about the 18km stretch between Koodraste & Shanivarasnthe.
Even I was shocked to see the works on Bisle road. In fact, they are touching Bisle & maybe all the way down to Kukke too.

A relative boarded the B9R from Bannerghatta road at 845 pm and reached mangalore at 6 am !! She isn't aware of the route taken , but it would have been through Madikeri for sure.

While I am tempted to take this route , for some reason I just hate the Bangalore- Mysore SH. As we will be starting early morning around 3 am , it will be Hassan- Belur - Mudigere -Kalasa- Karkala- Mangalore

As I had mentioned earlier , I will be driving back from Kundapur on Sunday ,18th Jan. Starting around 2-3 pm , which is the route I should be looking at ? Hebri- Agume or once again Kalasa- Mudigere ?

Any other smart suggestions ( other than asking me to drive on the Mysore Road ) is welcome.

As I had mentioned earlier , I will be driving back from Kundapur on Sunday ,18th Jan. Starting around 2-3 pm , which is the route I should be looking at ? Hebri- Agume or once again Kalasa- Mudigere ?

Kundapur-Ampar-Hulikal-Hosanagara-Ripponpete-Ayanur-Shimoga-BLR.

Some sections between Ampar and Hulikal/Mastekatte are rough. But beyond once you hit Nagara its a belter all the way.